


In the Rumble of Thunder

by MinamotoHierophant



Series: Mina's RP Auditions [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentioned Yuuki Juudai | Jaden Yuki, Pining, Self-Reflection, Short One Shot, money can't buy happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinamotoHierophant/pseuds/MinamotoHierophant
Summary: Chazz rages at his loss to Jaden before mulling over his life.
Series: Mina's RP Auditions [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022797
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	In the Rumble of Thunder

“Why, why, why!” It wasn’t a question; it was a demand. Why had he lost to that Slifer slacker? He was the top-ranked duelist in Obelisk Blue, second to none. And yet that lazy, incompetent slacker had won. 

The young man lay fuming on his dormitory bed, his quaffed array of jet black spires resting against the 800 thread count sheets. The room was a disaster- the result of his rampant frustration. The comforter was lying crumpled in one corner, while a desk chair and side table were resting on their sides. There was no permanent damage, just enough to make him feel as though he’d expressed his anger. The only thing in the room which seemed to have gone unscathed was the neat stack of cards on his bedside table. Hastily grabbing them, he looked through the deck for what seemed like the hundredth time, as though the answer was hidden in the card text. He slammed them back down in their pile in exasperation. Even with the powerful, rare cards Dr. Crowler gave Chazz, it hadn’t been enough to beat him. He refused to even think the slacker’s name.

He gently tugged at his bangs, still irritable. Slade and Jagger made it look so stupidly easy. They never appeared to have any issue with absolutely crushing their competitors. Before this, he’d never had any difficulty either. It wasn’t that he’d never lost before, it was that he’d never lost a duel since coming to Duel Academy. It marred his exemplary reputation. That capricious little twerp had changed everything. 

Chazz grappled with that thought for a moment. He was determined that the slacker wouldn’t change him, how he dueled or who he was. And yet, he knew when Dad, Slade, and Jagger heard about his loss, he would never hear the end of it. The berating and upbraiding would probably continue for months. Mom might dislike it, but she never stood up to her husband or sons. Despite the praise and acclaim he accumulated at DA, his home life never changed. His older brothers claimed to be helping him. “Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” they would say, right before backhanding him for any mistake he had made. He doubted that they would leave him alone, even when he became a top tier professional duelist.

He pulled himself upright into a sitting position, poised on the edge of his bed. Duel Academy had been his escape. Life at home had been one form of punishment or another for almost as long as he could remember. If he wasn’t getting beat up, he was watching Dad punish Slade or Jagger. His brothers had just decided to continue the tradition. As usual, Mom just turned a blind eye. Yes, she had helped him create his sanctuary of a bedroom, but that was the extent of it. There were no hugs or kisses in the Princeton household. The other Princeton men held the opinion that affection made you weak. It was a rare occasion when Machiavelli’s The Prince wasn’t sitting on the coffee table. 

Ah, his bedroom. He did miss it, but not the pain that came with it. It had everything he could have possibly needed; a stone tiled private bathroom, a mini kitchen, a luxurious poster bed, and state-of-the-art dueling and gaming set-up. All of that so he never had to leave his room. He’d spend hours crafting and playtesting decks against computerized opponents, sometimes opting for tactical RPGs when he got tired of dueling. Although his room had been perfect, it had been painfully lonely. It was funny how the profusion of luxury didn’t fix the gaping wound in his heart.

“D-Dammit,” he muttered as he felt his eyes tear up. He thought he could have those mystical things called friends here at Duel Academy. It turned out that he had just enough Princeton in him to see most other students as “co-workers” or “underlings.” But there was one girl who, he hoped against hope, might care about him. He had seen her draw from her deep wells of compassion for students of any rank. He had seen the soft sympathy reflected in her eyes. She wasn’t just physically attractive, but she had a beautiful heart. She was the only one who had ever expressed some sliver of concern for him. Sure, his professors were worried about his corporeal wellbeing, but this woman; she could peer past the smoke around his heart and glimpse his aching loneliness, his desire to love and be loved. 

The defensive shield of his ego cracked, and a few tears slipped through. Chazz had learned to cry quietly- years of experience had taught him what happened otherwise. With his luck, he knew this romantic crusade was as futile as hoping his brothers would stop abusing him. But somewhere in the cavern of his heart, there was some small hope, glistening softly like the teardrops rolling down his cheeks, that someday, someone would love him. Someone who would make him feel safe. Someone who he could love back without getting hurt.


End file.
